Transcript of Mayor Terry Bellamy's Talk:
I heard Anna’s stories from when you all started out in this program, a few weeks ago – what, six weeks ago? This is your seventh week, and already there are stories of how much you have grown.
I think life is full of stories, and I like to tell stories about my life because I think it’s important for people to know who I am, for the ladies who participate in this program. I’m a native of Asheville; this is where I grew up. This is my hometown. Who goes to Asheville Middle? You think you’re tough? Old girl used to walk down the halls of Asheville Middle, and I thought I was cute. I thought I was cute, I did. I enjoyed my time at Asheville Middle School. I talked too much. I did – and it continued over to Asheville High School.
At Asheville High, one of my worst teachers was Eulah Shaw. She’s not there; you don’t have to worry about her anymore. She was horrible. And I talked too much and I took debate. I took debate because I felt like this was my way to get out of doing a lot of work – that I could argue and not get fussed at. In debate, you argue – but you argue positions. And Miss Shaw – one day I was minding my business, talking in her class to my friend, and she interrupted my conversation in her class. How dare she? That was my time. And she said this to me, and I’ve never forgotten: Miss Whitmeyer – this was before I was married – She said, “Miss Whitmeyer, you are a diamond in the rough, and I am going to hew you out of that coal.” Okay, first she interrupted my conversation. Second, what do diamonds and coal have to do with each other? And who’s Hugh? ‘Cause I was most definitely thinking that “hew” was a person, because we had a Hugh in my class, and I was thinking, “What do I have to do with Hugh?” But what she was telling me –
Wait, quick question, folks: What’s the difference between diamonds and coal? (Girl answers) Diamonds are more special than coal? That’s true. Yes? (Girl answers) Coal is black, diamonds are shiny. Yes? (Girl answers) Coal is in it’s natural state; you don’t do anything to it. Diamonds get all fixed up. You’re all correct. But coal and diamonds come from the same place. They’re made of the same material. Whenever you mine, or “hew”, which means to dig out coal, the diamonds are coming out of the coal. But what has happened is, diamonds have been put under pressure and they become what they were meant to become. And the more pressure that’s put to a diamond, the more clarity it has and the more beautiful it is.
So, going back to Miss Shaw, this is what she was telling me: Miss Whitmeyer, I’m going to add more pressure to you, ‘cause I believe in you, and I’m going to bring out of you what’s in you. That sounded kind of cute in the middle of class, but I didn’t know what that meant she was going to do with me. In debate, you have two sides: the affirmative and the negative, and I always argued the affirmative. From that day on, I had to argue not only the affirmative; I had to argue the negative. She gave me double the work. So what that meant was, whenever an issue came up, when we had to go to a competition for debate, I was able to argue both sides. So I could anticipate what my opponent was going to say to me; I was ready. I had to do more research. I say all that to say, Miss Shaw made me a better person through added pressure. And I didn’t appreciate – I’ve gotta admit, I liked to talk and I didn’t appreciate that added challenge.
So, years later, I decided to go for my Masters at Western Carolina University. There’s no newspaper here now, so I’m going to own my truth: I was an English major, so I had to look at 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th centuries. That’s a lot of literature. From Shakespeare, Chaucer, all the way to Edgar Allen Poe – looking at all that and contemporary writers. All that was confusing me on a comprehensive exam. I had to take an exam on four centuries. I failed, too, the first time I took that. Guess where I went to get some help? I went to Miss Shaw, ‘cause one thing Miss Shaw knows is English. Not only was she a debate teacher, she was a fantastic English teacher. What I did was I went and talked to Miss Shaw and I said, “I need your assistance. You said I was a diamond in the rough, and you were going to help me.” I was still talking too much then. But I remembered her promise to make me into the diamond she said I was meant to be. So she created a curriculum for me to learn my two problem areas – 16th and 19th century literature. She did it so well that I went to take that exam again and I finished in record time and the people said, Are you sure you’re through? The people looked at my exam – the person who was proctoring the exam was an English professor and she was reading my exam, just trying to see if I knew what I was talking about and she looked, and I knew I’d passed when I saw her read over my answers. It was too easy, because Miss Shaw had created a course where I wouldn’t fail. So I walked away from Miss Shaw yet again.
But then I decided to run for office; in 1999, I decided to run for City Council, and I was one of the youngest people to ever do so. It was very intimidating. Guess who was one of first people to sign up to donate, to give me money – because that’s important if you’re going to run for office. (Girls answer: Miss Shaw. Bellamy nods.) Not only did she give me money, but she told other teachers to vote for me. When I run for re-election this fall, guess who’s helping my campaign? Miss Shaw. I ran in 2005. Guess who helped?
Sometimes in life, people put pressure on you, in a good way, to bring out who you’re supposed to be. You can’t understand that at the time. You can’t understand at the time why they want you to say, “Belay on, Belay off.” “You can do it – you can be a frog, or be a bear, and climb up there.” They may put pressure on you to read over a piece of paper and say what would you do in this scenario, and push you to come up with a response. And it may not feel comfortable at that time, but it’s all to make you the diamonds that you should be. In order to be who you’re supposed to be, I believe that God puts people in your life to add pressure.
My last story is this: If you ever need good entertainment, watch the city council – we meet on Tuesday evenings, Channel 11. I often have people who say, you know, “Mayor Bellamy, how do you deal with certain council members? How do you sit there and not want to smack them in the mouth or hit them in the head? How do you deal with that?” Those people are there, I believe, to make me a better mayor. Because while they use emotions and invoke anger sometimes in people, I use facts to make my decisions. And so they make me stronger. Sometimes it may look like a bad situation, but it can turn out alright. It’s all in your attitude. It’s all in how you see life.
My goal for you ladies is not just to enjoy climbing, but to understand that from the beginning you never thought you possibly could get to the top. I see a little frog leap to the top over there. I saw a bear climb very fast to the top. I saw somebody sprawled all over this. I want you to believe in yourself.
This is my only assignment for you, when you leave here. It’s a quote that our President uses in his book, and I often use it: “Dream big dreams.” I have a journal for myself, and in my journal I dream. And if any adult was to see my journal they would think I was certifiable because of what I believe I can do. Asheville can’t hold Terry Bellamy, for where I’m going.
I ask you to dare to dream; dream big dreams. I believe, again, that God puts people in your life to help you achieve your dreams. Ladies, you can do what you want to do. There will be resources that come. Anna is an example. Anna said, I want to do something that I think would make a difference in the lives of little girls, and something that I’m passionate about it rock climbing, and it’s an opportunity for young people to learn about their power. How many of you mentors who are here knew Anna before volunteering? (Two raise hands) How many did not know Anna? (Nine raise hands) See? Resources will come when you have a dream. They’ll just come. They’ll say, “You know, I think I’m going to help this program. I think today’s the day I’m going to help that program!” It just happens.
So my challenge to you is to go home, and get you a journal. It doesn’t have to be a big fancy one. Begin to dream. Begin to think about where you see yourself. What do you want to wear on graduation day? I said that when I was elected to Mayor, I’d wear a certain outfit. And people said to me, “Okay, you’re running against a sitting Mayor, a councilmember who’s been a dentist in this community for 40 years and you think you can be Mayor.” And I said, “Yep. Sure can.” And to the ones who said, “No you can’t,” I said, “Thanks, see you later.” And the resources will start coming….
I tell you this ladies: Your dream may sound crazy to some, and you may have to distance yourself from even those who are close to you who cannot see the potential in who you are. But I guarantee you, someone will step in to fill that void. Dream big dreams, and when you begin to put those dreams on paper and read them daily, you will achieve those. Les Brown is a motivational speaker and he says, “Most people will never achieve their dreams because they are too afraid to write them down, and those who write them down are too afraid to look at them because that puts them back in their face.”
Ladies, I’m asking you to dream big dreams. I’m asking you to step out there, and do something that hasn’t been done before. …Ladies, I am so proud of you for having the endurance to be here this long. I’m really excited about your future, and I hope you will email me from time-to-time – just check in, just holla’ at me to let me know how you’re doing. I believe in you.
